Plan vs Reality
by my time is now
Summary: A birthday present for PurpleRain012. John just wanted to plan something so Lita could have a good time, did everything go according to the plan? Sometimes the best things in life happen without plans.


Disclaimer: I do not own any superstar/diva that may be mentioned in this story. I do not own any names, trademarks, etc. associated with World Wrestling Entertainment. No copyright infringement was intended by this story. I only own the plot.

A/N1- This story is a birthday present for the awesome PurpleRain012, who shares her birthday with Christmas, quite a good day to be born, don't you think? Lol

Being the new kid in a school is both fun as well as a pain. Painful in the sense that often the new kid is picked by the bullies or the jocks to make fun of, however nothing like that happened with me, thanks mainly to my intimidating physique and my don't care/not scared attitude. When I first stepped into my new high school I could see a group of boys looking like the usual jocks approaching me but after they came closer, they decided otherwise and moved in another direction. Later my friends confirmed that they were indeed the bullies of the school who picked on random unfortunate new kids and played pranks on them. For some reason however, they didn't try to mess with me. I have not been bothered since then by that group or any other group for the matter.

Being a new kid is fun too. Though I have been noticed by many students, especially the girls have shown interest in me but it also meant many others have not bothered with my presence or existence. This scenario was especially suitable for me since it meant that I could stare at my object of attention without coming off as a creep, which was exactly what I had done until now. My object of attention or rather affection was Lita Dumas and I was quite sure she did not know about my existence.

Lita had caught my eyes the instant I saw her, she was a redhead and I have always had a weakness for them. She was naturally beautiful and her personality and care free attitude made her all the more appealing to me. She was a tomboy too and I had always felt they had a hidden beauty in them. I wouldn't mind her getting dolled up for me every now and then though. I was not normally a shy person and yet I had still to approach her even after being in mostly the same classes with her for the last couple of months. For some reason she made me oddly nervous. I would have still approached her though but unfortunately, she always seemed to be joint in the hip with her boyfriend, yes she had a boyfriend.

I had been sitting two seats diagonally away from Lita which meant I was free to stare from her right side without her knowing about it. The sitting arrangement had been like that since the beginning. Whenever I looked at her direction, I saw her and her boyfriend sitting together talking, kissing or doing whatever stuff I did not care about. It's a no secret that I did not like Chris Jericho at all, her jerk of a boyfriend.

However today's scenario was different. As I took my seat in the class and looked at her direction, I was surprised to see her sitting alone. I was even more surprised to see Chris sitting with Trish Stratus, Lita's supposed best friend and they were already kissing at the moment. Since Lita was facing towards her right side, I could see her scowling towards the new couple and the sadness in her eyes affected me much worse than I thought. Even though the scenario was perfect for me given that Lita was surely single now, I still genuinely felt bad for her.

I turned my attention towards one of my very good friends, Eve Torres. She was a beautiful brunette with brains and was one of the smartest people I have seen. I had eyes on her as well and she too had a boyfriend but gave up trying when I realised how good her boyfriend Rener was for her, they were one of the best couples I had seen. However they both became very good friends with me. Eve was a very popular girl and usually had info on most of the gossips running around the school and I was sure she could shed some light on what happened between Lita, Chris and Trish as well.

She too, like most other students was looking at the spectacle that was the trio of Lita, Chris and Trish. She glanced towards my direction and I was just about to ask her but the teacher entered the room and it was only after the classes ended that I was able to approach Eve again.

Eve was alone and standing in front of her locker when I finally found her. After the usual formal greetings, I went straight to the point.

"So what happened between the trio, this is really surprising, do you have any info on it?"

It took a few seconds for Eve to register what I was talking about but she finally understood. "Oh you mean between Chris, Trish and Lita? Well apparently he has been cheating on Lita with Trish for a few weeks now and she just came to know about it yesterday. Chris didn't show any remorse, instead mocked Lita for being plain and boring and as you can already tell, the friendship between Lita and Trish is over. What surprises me most is how Trish could do it to her supposed best friend. Lita is hiding it well but she is really broken inside."

That was all I needed to hear from Eve, I thanked her and moved away. However I could not stay in peace the whole day after that. I kept remembering the sadness in Lita's face, the hurt in her eyes as she watched her former best friend play tonsil hockey with her ex boyfriend. I felt the sudden urge to help her somehow, to make her smile even for a small time. I wanted her to forget about the treacherous new couple and enjoy her life. I wanted her to meet someone new, who would bring her happiness and needless to say, I wanted that person to be me.

There was however a small problem with that, I had yet to strike a conversation with the redhead and after the latest debacle, I wasn't exactly sure how to even approach her. Despite all that, the urge to even have a tiny interaction with Lita was huge and I honestly didn't know how long I could wait for that myself.

A couple of days passed and the situation seemed to be getting worse, Lita was now barely talking with others and Chris and Trish seemed to be in their own little heaven. Her condition pulled my heart's strings in a way indescribable in words and I made my mind to finally gather enough courage to at least go and initiate a conversation with her.

Lita was sitting alone during lunch break when I finally approached her. Other students as well as our friends too were scattered around but she managed to maintain a distance with them. I walked slowly up to her and cleared my throat. She was busy doing something on her mobile and looked up. There was no hint of recognition on her face when she saw me, which didn't help me at all. However I was past the point of caring by then.

"Hi, can I sit here?" I pointed towards an empty chair in front of her across the table. Lita just shrugged with a nod and went back to her phone. I didn't understand this thing with people and their phone nowadays, always playing with it. I simply sit and tried to think of a way to start a conversation. I must had zoned out for quite some time because the next thing I realised, she had put away her phone and was staring at me with a questioning look on her face.

"What do you want John, you have been sitting here staring at me for the past 5 minutes and haven't said a thing. You are really starting to creep me out." Lita said matter of factly.

I was too shocked to say anything, I was so sure that the did not know me or my name for the matter and it was a great surprise to find out that she actually knew about my existence.

"I really didn't think you would know my name, we have not interacted before and you have barely noticed me..."

Lita cut me off, "Its not a shocker, I know your name just the way you know my name and we didn't interact before because there was no need and as you can tell, I am not really a social person. I also know that you live just a few houses away from mine and your mom just happens to be new neighbourhood friends with my mom. She has visited our house a few times. But enough about that, why are you here in the first place?"

Wow, Lita just dropped a whole lot of information on me. Not only did she knew my name and where I lived, apparently my mom was friends with her mom as well. My mom never mentioned about visiting Lita'ss house to me, I wondered why. But yeah, time to put these thoughts aside and concentrate on the more important matter in hand.

I sat straight and looked directly into her eyes, my confidence returning, "Umm I just wanted to ask how you are feeling, you know after the whole Trish/Chris incident. I just wanted to be here for you to lend you moral support, nothing else."

Hearing those words, Lita became visibly upset and I wondered if I had taken the wrong approach when she opened her mouth, "That is very nice of you to think like that but I am okay now and I don't really need anyone, I am perfectly fine being myself. Thanks for your concern." She made an attempt to take out her phone but I was not going to give up, not this time.

Before she could protest, I started rambling, "You know, I had a similar situation in my old school. The girl I was dating with for 6 months cheated on me with some random guy I didn't know. I was heartbroken and depressed just like you but then one friend helped me get over it."

Just as I hoped, Lita showed a little interest in my rambling and looked at me with curiosity. "Really? You got dumped too? I am sorry to hear that. Who was the friend and how did the person help you?"

"Well a girl from my class supported me very much and we became very good and close friends. We didn't date because there were talks of me leaving the school but her friendship and support really helped me pass through that horrible phase and now I don't even remember that incident anymore. She spent a lot of time with me, always gave me company when needed, told me jokes and kept my mind off my ex. I am really blessed to have her in my life."

This part was a complete lie. I did not date the girl for that long, may be a month. I later found out that she was actually dating the other guy and was cheating on him with me. The girl was just playing up both. The other guy and I had a confrontation but thankfully it was just a discussion with no physical involvement and he understood the situation completely. He dumped the girl right after. I was heartbroken because I actually liked the girl and I had to transfer school right after. I only made up the friend story so that Lita could understand the importance of having a friend to confide in. However she didn't need to know any of these inside things. From the look in her face, it seemed that my plan was working well.

Lita looked at me like she didn't really believed me but she also had the look of amazement on her face, I could almost imagine the wheels in her head turning, she was tying to decide what to make of my little but powerful speech. She was in a dilemma on how to respond to my story. It all depended on her response on if she would agree to what I was going to suggest next.

"Wow, that's...great" Lita said slowly and just like that, my confidence came a notch down. All she could say after my rant was that? I needed to try harder than I imagined, might be it was time for me to finally stop beating around the bush and just let it out**.**

**"**Yup, it is. Hey I was thinking if you would like to hang out with me, you know this weekend, just as friends? I really think it will do you good to spend sometime with your friends than you know, staying alone, drowned in your sorrows." As soon as I said them, I knew that I had made a mistake.

Lita snapped at me, "I am not drowned in anything and I don't need any help. I get that you are trying to help but no thanks. And I have many other friends, why whould I choose to spend time with you anyway?

"Umm because we live close, and your mom knows my mom and it's the weekends, what difference it is going to make? Come on, just as friends, I only want to spend some time with you, I think you are a great girl and it would be a great experience hanging with you. So what do you say, you accept or not?"

As imagined, Lita kept denying but I kept persuading her and finally my magic(cough) worked on her and she agreed to my proposal. It was finalized that we would be meeting somewhere mid way between our houses and plan the next from there. I already had some plans in my mind though and I hoped she liked them.

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It was finally Saturday evening and I couldn't be anymore excited. As much as I convinced Lita that it was not a date, my mind kept on saying that it was definitely a friendly date at least and this one date could make or break our friendship. However I was really looking forward to meeting her in a few minutes down the street. I didn't have my own car yet and my dad was out, so he took his car with him. It wasn't really a matter of concern though, Lita already knew it and our locality was quite a small one, so it didn't matter if we walked.

I dressed casually, a jeans and a black shirt. I was not really too much fashion conscious and dressed casually almost at every event. I had a pair of tuxedos which I wore only during special occasions. I applied a little perfume and after saying bye to my mom I started off towards Lita's house. Just after a couple of minutes, I saw her coming down the street as well. Ah, at least she was punctual.

Her appearance took my breath away. She wore a jeans and a hooded sweatshirt which might be one size too small for her. I was not complaining though. However it was the colour of the shirt that made my heart stop, she too was wearing a deep black shirt and combined with her red hair she just looked drop dead gorgeous. I must had zoned out for a little because I was brought to my senses by the sound of Lita snapping her fingers.

"Are you alright? I have been saying hello for the last one minute and you didn't respond. Is everything okay?"

"Oh hi, sorry uh everything is alright, it's just that, wow you look beautiful!" I stuttered.

I was actually relieved that Lita didn't seem to mind my gawking at her much and even let out the tiniest bit of smile.

"Oh, um thanks, you look nice too. So what are the plans? Wait you do have some plans right?" Lita asked with a hint of uncertainty and also eyeing me up and down, probably noticing how our dresses matched.

Now was the time to see if she approved my idea or not. It wasn't really anything out of the world, just a very simple one.

"Well I do have one, but first I have to make sure of something, do you like movies? We can watch one at the theatre if you want."

"It depends on what type of movies we are talking about. I don't like romance movies much and prefer the action, comedy or the horror ones. So what movie is running now?" She asked as we started walking towards the market place.

I really thought romance movies were a must for girls but then again I learnt that Lita was not just a typical girl. She was much more than that. She had her own choices and preferences and was not shy to admit them, a characteristic which made me like her even more.

"Well Anchorman 2 got released recently and it is running in all the theatres here. It is a comedy movie and you have probably already watched the first one, so I think you will enjoy it. What do you say, watch it?"

"I love Anchorman. " Lita said enthusiastically. "It is such a funny movie and Will Farrell is just superb in it. I am sure the 2nd one will be great too, so yeah, that's a good choice, let's watch it."

I suddenly felt bold. I reached forward and took Lita's left hand into my right hand and started walking towards the theatre. All the while I waited for a backlash but it never came. Either she was too excited to watch the movie or she didn't mind me holding her hand, and I actively hoped for the latter.

We finally reached the theatre which was about a five minute walk from where we lived. All throughout our short journey I held onto her hand and never once did she pulled away. In my mind I analysed the success of our hangout until now, she hadn't seemed sad at all, she was almost back to being her own cheery self, and that was exactly my intention. As much cheesy it sounded, the main goal of me asking Lita out was to bring a smile on her face and a positive attitude. It wasn't anything about me. Sure I was benefiting myself from her company but my concern here was her happiness. So far, I thought

I was doing a good job at that.

The queue was quite a long one and I hurried to stand next in line while Lita stepped aside. It was the first time since our walk together that I let her hand go. In the meantime, we had a little healthy argument on who was going to pay for the tickets and Lita insisted that we pay our own but I convinced her that I would pay for this one and she could always pay the next time we watch a movie. I was happy to see that she didn't stress on the next part, probably she was too distracted to even notice it.

And then it happened. After a couple of minutes I glanced at Lita and saw she was looking at somewhere in the front of the line and was heavily scowling. Whatever and whoever she saw, she didn't seem happy, I even saw her curling her fists as she seemed to shoot daggers from her eyes. I leaned a little and looked in the front, 'oh shit', there was Chris and Trish standing at the front of the line, holding hands. Obviously, they too had come to watch the movie and from the hurt, sad and angry look on Lita's face, it was clear that she would be anywhere rather than here.

I hurried out of the line, the possibility of watching that show was dead anyway. I gently took one of her hand and tried to pull her away from the place but she yanked it back. All the good mood that she was sporting until now had vanished. She seemed genuinely bothered by the sight of her ex best friend and ex boyfriend together, showing pda, a little too much for a public place but apparently they didn't cared about it.

"Let's go, we will go somewhere else, we can watch this movie later. Come on." I almost dragged Lita and she followed willingly, probably because she wanted to get away from that place as far as possible. It was clear that she was affected and upset and I briefly wondered if her mood would change anytime soon. Our little friendly date had definitely started on a very bad note. Damn Chris and Trish, damn them!

"I am not feeling well, I want to go home," Lita whispered slowly while not looking at me. We were standing on a highway pavement surrounded by shops, as people and cars passed us. She was definitely sad and sounded the same. "Are you going to come with me or are you staying?"

Even in such a bad situation, I was happy that she at least cared enough to ask me, if it was any other girl, she would have probably just started walking. However I was not ready to go back home, not after the hard work I had to go through to get a chance to spend time with Lita. There was no guarantee if I would ever get such a chance again or not. I felt we could still spend some quality time together and I was going to make sure that she too felt the same.

"Listen Lita, what has been done is done, you can't change it. Why do you let them affect you so much? They are not worth your time. Look at yourself, ever since the incident, you haven't been the same. You rarely smile or interact with others, their sight changes your mood for the worse and you just don't enjoy life anymore. This evening was planned to take your mind off everything and just have some fun. So what if we couldn't watch a movie, we can still have a lot of fun. Tell me, do you like playing video games?" There was a reason why I asked her about video games, I could see an arcade shop right across the street and I had gathered information beforehand that she was an avid gamer and very competitive in nature. I was also worried about how she would react on my rant and I prepared myself for the worst.

To my utmost surprise, Lita didn't yell or even showed anger. Instead she looked defeated as she nodded slowly. I had to strain my ears to hear what she was saying and she also sounded sad. "Yeah, you are right. I am letting their relation affect me too much, but I can't help it you know, I try to forget them and whenever I make even a small progress, they somehow appear in front of me. I was so excited to watch the movie with you, but they had to ruin that too. I feel like it is a sin for me to be happy. Ugh...I just.. don't know what to do!"

It really felt different to see the redhead so much vulnerable, inside all the tough exterior, she too was just a normal girl, vying for attention and a fairytale love story. All girls wanted them, Lita just hid it better than most. I felt special that she confided in me about her insecurities and that was what I wanted to be most of all, a true reliable friend, who wouldn't betray her under any circumstances. With that, I also didn't want our friendly date to have a premature death, I wanted to continue it further.

"Listen Lita, you can't let things like this affect you, they happen without your control, all you can do is try to be happy yourself. Remember, I too had to go through the same process but my friends and self control helped me get over it. You are a strong willed girl and have wonderful friends, they are always ready to help you, you just have to stop pushing them away. There is no shame in seeking support from friends, that is what they are for, isn't it? Also don't say that you don't deserve happiness. It is probably for the best that Chris and Trish got together, because he was definitely not the right person for you. I am sure God has someone else planned for you, so stop worrying and just live this moment. So...what about the video game? You still up for it?" I pointed towards the arcade shop.

Lita didn't say anything, she just cracked a tiny smile. This time she took hold of my hand and started dragging me towards the shop, "Let's go, I haven't played one in a while." I couldn't be anymore happier, our date was almost saved... by video games!

There were many games to choose from and we searched until I found the one I was looking for. GrandPrix racing games. Lita didn't need to know that I was a master of racing games since I was planning on letting her win anyway. I called her and pointed her towards the game I selected and she broke out in a genuine smile. I was confused until I heard her next words.

"Out of all the games, you go and select that one? Are you really that desperate to lose to a girl? I am a pro at racing games and I can beat you anytime in it, so let's try something else. I don't want to humiliate you. How about shooting games?" Her sassyness was back.

'Oooh damn pretty girl, what have you done. You have challenged the competitive nature in me. I am not going to let that slide easily, you are in for a rude awakening girl. You have wanted it, and you will get it.'

"Really? Well I am somewhat good in that game too, so how about we race and see who wins? I am sure at the end of the game you will eat your own words. Or are you not pro enough to accept the challenge? What do not say, yay or nay?"

Lita looked at me like she could not believe what I said. "You must be mad to challenge me in this game, nobody has beaten me yet and sorry but I don't think you can as well. I say no, because there is just no point in this challenge. Think of something else."

"Okay since you are so sure of your win, how about we make a bet and spice up things a little? If I win, you will go to a real date with me and I get to pick the date, time and place. If you win, just in case, I will do anything you ask me to do. Now are you up for it?"

"Fine! I agree, but only because so that I can win and ask you to stop bothering me. Now let's get to the game, so I can beat your ass."

We both stared each other down for few moments and moved, standing in front of the screen, controller in our hands and started the game. I was hell bent on winning the race and shut her mouth, like for real.

I had to admit Lita was quite a good player and she gave me lot of trouble multiple times but I was a master of the game after all. There were two laps, each quite long and we finished the first lap almost together. In the second lap, instead of trying to move ahead of me she started hitting my car continuously, one time she was almost able push me off the track but I maintained my balance and survived. All those hits were taking away my focus so instead of hitting her back, I decided to win the race by sheer speed only.

Lita started trailing behind me as I increased the speed, maintaining the balance in various turns and twists as the ending line came nearer. She too increased speed but could not overtake me since I gave her no space to pass me over. I could faintly here the redhead mutter 'shit' as I came closer and closer to the ending line, just a few more seconds..."Oww fuck", something hard dropped on my left foot and I lost my concentration for a few seconds, enough for Lita's car to pass mine and win the race!

"What was that, what the hell was that?" I started jumping on one leg while holding the injured one. Lita seemed unperturbed as she calmly turned towards me, "What happened? Why are you jumping? But whatever, you lost the race. That means I don't have to go to a date with you and you get to do anything I want, your terms."

I was totally speechless for a few minutes, because of the pain and probably because I couldn't form a meaningful sentence. And then I erupted, "You cheated, I was totally winning the race but you put your boot on my foot and I lost. You wouldn't have been able to beat me in a fair game and you know it."

Lita simply waved my accusations away. "I don't know what you are talking about, I won, you lost and that's it. Now lets get out of here, you are making a scene", with that she dragged me out of the shop and we started walking towards our homes. I did not say anything and hung my head low as I was still upset but continued to follow the redhead.

After a few minutes, Lita suddenly burst out laughing, she turned to face me and continued laughing loudly. "Oh my God, I am sorry, the look on your face when I kicked you and when you were jumping, it was so funny hahaha, sorry I couldn't control myself, it was just...epic." She continued laughing mercilessly at me.

I started to smile slowly and after sometime I too was laughing loudly with her. I pulled her body close, wrapping her waist as we continued walking and Lita didn't seem to notice or mind it. "Happy to amuse you but you know I would have won that, I think we should have a rematch sometime, a fair one, what do you say?"

"Excuses, excuses", Lita said dramatically, "Every boy says that after they get beat by a girl, I am not surprised but no, you don't get a rematch. Remember, I don't have to go to a date with you, so you can just leave that thought". With that she again started laughing loudly, "That face though haha, it was so damn funny".

We laughed and joked and continued walking for the next few minutes until we reached Lita's home since her's came first. I slowly turned her towards me, she was still genuinely smiling and I couldn't be anymore happier. My mission for the night was successful. This was the Lita I wanted to see all time, carefree, happy and pretty.

"So did you have a good time? Did you enjoy our friendly date? I just wanted to see you happy and smiling and I succeeded, even though it was at my expense", I cracked a smile. "I will never forget this night, it will be one of my best memories ever."

Lita smiled brightly, she came closer to me, close enough that I could smell her and feel her breath on my ear. She whispered, "Mine too" and gave me a peck on the cheek. She then moved back. "I really enjoyed the time spent with you, thanks for your offer. Sorry for your leg, hope it feels better soon", with that she let out out another laugh and starting walking towards her home.

I smiled happily and started off towards my own house. Just a few seconds later, "Hey John". I turned to see Lita standing near the door, looking at me shyly. " I didn't tell you what you have to do for me as per the rules of the bet. Are you still up for it? You don't have to do it if you don't want to".

"Definitely. Yes?"

"How about that date?" With that Lita entered her house and closed the door.

Fuck, yes!

The End

A/N2- Well there you go, hope you like it. I tried to keep it as much simple as possible all the while trying to keep it real. A little cheesy, but that's expected!

Sorry for the grammatical and spelling mistakes, English is not my first language. So the usual rant at the end, read this story, review it, tell me what you feel about it, give me suggestions on what to improve and how to improve, they are all very much appreciated. Until next time, byeeee.


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